Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-11-18
PAST AND PRESENT.
DR.. Mcfarland Talks of
Thirty Years Ago.
A TRANSFORMATION SCENE.
What Los Angeles Was Like in
1850 Some Interesting
"reminiscences.

Hearing that DIR. Mcfarland, wht
had resided in Los Angeles in the
SOS was in town, HERALD reporter
called at the St. Nicholas, and found
that the object of his quest was domi
ciled there.
eyes, sir" was the response the
Doctor made to query addressed tc
him. 81 lived here from 1850 to 1861
and represented Los Angeles, San
Diego and San Bernardino counties in
the State Senate for the Democratic
party. This is my first visit here since
1861, and though 1 had heard how
marvellously Los Angeles had grown,
must confess that was astonished
on my arrival the other day. When
/ left here it was a regular
adobe town, and now there are bust
ness blocks and residences that would
do credit to any city in the United
States. 1t is as if the wand Of ma
gician had been waved over the scene.
In those days the centre of population
was in what you now call Sonoratown,
and south of the Courthouse was a
wide expanse of open country. The
district you have named East Los An
geles and Boyle Heights was simply
pasture land for sheep and goats, and
beyond few Mexican huts, was liter
ally tenantless. And the life has
changed here too. 1t was q typical
frontier town then and turbulence and
lawlessness ran riot. Shooting and
cutting scrapes were 80 common that
no one took any notice OF them-occa-
sionally the vigilance committee
would turn out and then there would
be one or two nooses made and the
world would be rid of few despera-
does. The government of the city was
in the hands of a Council, Mayor and
City Constable and they very rarely
exercised their powers outside of the
American colony"
"Were there any of the present out
lying districts settled up?" asked the
reporter.
"None that l know of-yes, though
Anaheim had just been founded, and
a few German colonists were heading
in that direction. In those days it
was quite welcome sight to see some
new arrivals. A few came by boat to
San Pedro, but most of them came
overland in big trains Of ''prairie
schooners. The routes, if ] remem-
Der rightly, were: Those coming
over the northern trail entered the
county by the Cajon pass,
while those coming from the
south crossed Warmers Ranch and
entered town on a trail which ran di-
rectly across where the Agricultural
Park now is. Most of them engaged
in farming on their arrival, though
quite number made tracks for the
mines, prospecting or working claims
already located in the Sierra Madre.
Yes, there were quite number OF
orange groves laid out, and there were
hundreds of acres of vineyard in full
bearing. There was a very fine ranch
at San Gabriel, and another one at a
spot about where Seventh street
now is.
The only hotel Of any note in town
was the Bella Union, kept by DR..
Winston, though there were quite
number of hostelries and places where
one could obtain board and accommo-
dalton.
There are very few of the old-timc
residents here now. OF course, the
names of Pico, Del Vale and Sepul-
veda were as well-known then as they
are at the present time, and there are
also few Americans living here who
were my confreres in those early days.
mo. l do not remember any cpl
demic of smallpox during the eleven
years OF my residence here. There
were few scattering cases, to be sure,
but they were all confined to the Mex
lean population. l was practicing
medicine in those days and therefore
had good opportunity to acquaint my
self with the various disorders, and l
formed an opinion then that this dis
trict was one OF the healthiest spots in
the universe, and l believe. judging
by your mortality reports and CONVEX
sations have had with some of the
leading medicos in town at the pres
ent time, that my views were un-
doubtedly correct"